There seems to be a false narrative in mainstream media that African American parents do not support their children's education. This is far from the truth. Community forums such as this and the push to stop the closing of 50 schools in predominately African American areas in Chicago refute this narrative.

The authors of Pose Wobble Flow give several reasons for writing in community. "It sharpens our thinking. It improves our final product. It also allows us to speak with authority about the writing process from the inside out." To create a space for writers in Writing Our Lives must sharpen the thinking of adult and youth writers. Garcia, A., & O'Donnell-Allen, C. (2015). Pose, wobble, flow: A culturally proactive approach to literacy instruction (p. 84). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Group mentoring for African American males can have positive rewards. There may be a lack of black volunteers in a particular urban area; therefore, one or two males/females mentor several boys. Mentoring can take the form of academic, social-emotional, or vocational help. https://nationalmentoringresourcecenter.org/index.php/component/k2/item/177-mentoring-for-black-male-youth.html

Not only are many South Siders living in a food desert, but they also must deal with inflated prices. Canned and packaged foods in gas stations are one to two dollars more than at most grocery stores.

This is such a great unit. In Pose, Wobble, Flow (Garcia, A. & O'Donnell-Allen, C.), the authors describe a culturally proactive teacher as one who "advocates for educational transformation and push back against existing inequitable systems." Kara seems to fit this description with this food justice unit, which includes multiliteracies and encompasses many content areas such as math, history, social studies, and health.

Across from our school is a corner store that some students visit before class. They may buy chips, candy, soda before eating their school breakfast. The breakfast consists of pancakes or muffins reheated in a package, milk, and fruit on the side. Some students will not eat the fresh fruits in the school breakfast because they have already "eaten" snacks from the store. We can teach our students at young ages how to eat healthy meals.

This documentary highlights the harmful health changes Spurlock incurs as he ingests fast food for 30 days. Minority communities have access to fast food, but it causes obesity and increases in cholesterol. The availability of food is unjust if communities can not readily access fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables.

There is a film in which the running joke shows that if you are of the majority population and want to change a situation, you must "write a letter" to those in power. The offending party will coward in fear and quickly appease the letter writer. Unfortunately, many minority students do not believe they have access to the power of the written word. This research-driven unit allows students to address the mistreatment of the administration through respectful letter writing. As teachers, we need to stress critical literacy as a way to bring lasting change for our students and their communities.

The school-to-prison pipeline supports the evidence for this quote. http://ijjc.illinois.gov/tags/school-prison-pipeline

Treating students as criminals with police wordings as "Freeze" and "Don't Move" has the opposite effect of encouraging students to go to class.

This percentage of incarceration rates is startling. Instead of genuine civil rights in the 1960s, the courts unfairly incarcerate minority citizens. Rather than provide equity in the form of health, economics, education, etc., we punish students when they commit crimes (which stems from inequity) then incarcerate them believing we no longer have to "deal" with their crimes-out of sight, out of mind. The "racial caste system" is evidenced by formerly incarcerated persons lack of employment opportunities. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/outofwork.html

In the text, Critical Indigenous Literacies by Debbie Reese, she notes that "#OwnVoices stories—a hashtag created by Corinne Duyvis to describe a book that is written by someone who is of the particular culture being depicted. The idea is that the quality of a story is improved when the person creating that story is an insider who knows what to share and how to share it with outsiders. " When others write your story, they can own it and resell it at their leisure.

Parental roles in black males' success is an appealing area of research. What actions, conversations are available to young black males in the home? How do parents set the bar high for academic expectations? What motivates parents to push for academic success?

Khaleeq positioned himself as a valuable resource in this research study. He was a bridge between his adolescent peers and the researchers. He was knowledgeable and respected among his peers and his community.

There is something fundamentally wrong in telling a child that they do not live up to the American ideal of beauty because her hair does not look like Cinderella. This mandating of hairstyles is reminiscent of the Black Codes mentioned earlier in the text. Zero- tolerance school policies should not refer to the type of hair to which you were born. Black students are threatened with a suspension due to their hairstyles. http://theoklahomaeagle.net/2017/07/18/when-black-hair-violates-the-dress-code/

These examples of the Black Code testify to the afterlife of slavery:

• Race was defined by blood; the presence of any amount of black blood made one black.
• Employment was required of all freedmen; violators faced vagrancy charges.
• Freedmen could not assemble without the presence of a white person.
• Freedmen were assumed to be agricultural workers and their duties and hours were tightly regulated.
• Freedmen were not to be taught to read or write.
• Public facilities were segregated.
• Violators of these laws were subject to being whipped or branded

https://sites.google.com/a/email.cpcc.edu/black-codes-and-jim-crow/black-code-and-jim-crow-law-examples

It is very intentional to disregard the culture, language, and stories of Indigenous people. By casting Indigenous people in a primitive light, the larger culture will not consider their personhood.

Also, consider films directed by those who are not native can do irreparable harm by inaccurate depictions. It is difficult to "erase" negative film images. This text focuses on critical Indigenous literacy for children. This age may be the best place to begin questioning who benefits from these films and books.

This tendency is especially true of reporting SAT/ACT scores by race/ethnicity. Indigenous people, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders scores are often grouped. To add insult to injury, these test scores are sometimes categorized as "other."

I read the world as an African American female. I can relate to this statement of locating Native lives in the past. During February, which is traditionally Black History Month, school bulletin boards, films, books all depict either slave lives or biographies of Dr. M. L. King. These narratives are essential to include. Seldom are African American narratives centered on the lawyers, doctors, professors who also impacted American lives.

All students write and participate in the read-aloud. Then all take notes on each person's narrative. All the students have to "buy-in" to this process because they bear such intimate thoughts and feelings. Creating this safe place was crucial to the sharing process.

It is innovative to create units with multiple literacies and not binding learning to just one or two texts.

This is a difficult balance to maintain for literature. Although critical literacy engaged Christensen's students in high school, many colleges only teach and accept "traditional" (white) literature.

According to Handsfield, in Literacy Theory as Practice, "There are no actual curricula that are considered to be CRT (Critical Race Theory) instructional programs." Christensen had to create literacy units that met her students' individual and collective needs as students of color.

A recent example (2020) is Lori Loughlin, convicted of conspiracy in connection with a college admissions bribery scandal, received permission from a federal judge to serve her prison sentence in her choice facility.

Teachers have a responsibility to become a part of the disruption. After listening to students, we must keep the conversations going. The text mentions that the pedagogy of healing does not indicate a "completed recovery." Indeed, these lessons are just the beginnings of critical literacy conversations.

Just these 3 words "If that girl," imply otherness. The CNN analyst's language seems to say, "This is what a girl should do, but that girl was in the wrong." We do not have to be concerned about an officer assaulting us because we always do what we are told.

In August 2020, Chicago Public Schools voted whether to maintain school resource officers in the light of George Floyd's death. The majority of schools decided to keep the officers in place. Are we treating our youth as adult citizens requiring policing?

So glad the authors mentioned teachers and students in this statement. During this pandemic, teachers are expected to put their lives on the line; Latino teachers face fears and anger concerning immigration; African American teachers face frustration concerning police brutality. A "safe space" is difficult but necessary to achieve for both teachers and students.

We are so pressed to implement Common Core Curriculum and push students to achieve high standardized test scores that it leaves little time for dealing with emotionally traumatized students. Yet, if we do not address students' traumas and show concern for their well-being, they will push back against testing because it does not meet their immediate concerns.

This notion of knowledge as embodied is fascinating. We compartmentalize knowledge. PE teachers' domain is health and activity, but not literacy. Literacy teachers' domain is reading/writing but not movement. Our bodies respond to the knowledge of inflicted trama and/or hate.

Acknowledging trama is the first step in healing.